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Developer: SEGA CS2 R&D
Publisher: SEGA
Engine: Hedgehog Engine 2
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release: April 28, 2020
Sakura Wars is a Japanese steampunk media franchise created by veteran designer Oji Hiroi and owned by Sega. The original Sakura Wars was an ambitious title for the then-in-production Sega Saturn. The first game's overlap of the tactical role-playing, dating sim and visual novel genres prompted Sega to classify it as a "dramatic adventure", a moniker which has endured during the series' lifetime. Both Red Entertainment and Sega co-developed most of the games until 2008, when the series went on hiatus. Sega rebooted the series as sole developer because of fan demand. Recurring elements include anime cutscenes created by notable studios including Production I.G, and music by composer Kohei Tanaka.
The series has sold over 4.5 million copies as of 2010, and garnered both critical and popular acclaim. The original Sega console games have been voted among the most popular for the Saturn and Dreamcast. The Sakura Wars franchise includes numerous anime productions, manga, and other media projects such as stage shows. With the exception of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love and the 2019 soft reboot, the video game series has not been released in English. Several of the anime series have been localized for English territories. [SUMMARIZED FROM THE WIKI]
The first game, "Sakura Taisen", came out in 1996 for the Saturn. As noted above, it was a then-novel mixture of SRPG, Visual Novel and Dating Sim, relying heavily on the mid-1990s aesthetics then prevalent in Anime shows such as Magic Knights Rayearth and Gundam Wing.
The game eventually had a direct sequel, released on the Saturn, and two follow-ups released for the Dreamcast. Additionally, SEGA ported and re-released all of the games in the franchise for the DC prior to exiting the console business in 2002. The last entry in the franchise was Sakura Wars: So Long My Love, for the PS2, the only title officially released in the West, as it was brought over by NIS America in 2010, with a US-only Wii port released as well.
Ten years later in 1940, the Combat Revue's commander Sumire Kanzaki (Michie Tomizawa) recruits Imperial Japanese Navy ensign Seijuro Kamiyama (Yohei Azakami) to become the captain of the new Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division in Tokyo, which consists of: Sakura Amamiya (Ayane Sakura), a swordswoman; Hatsuho Shinonome (Maaya Uchida), a shrine maiden; Anastasia Palma (Ayaka Fukuhara), a newly-transferred Greek actress; Azami Mochizuki (Hibiku Yamamura), a ninja prodigy from the Mochizuki clan; and Clarissa "Claris" Snowflake (Saori Hayami), a Luxembourger noblewoman. The division once again faces a new demon invasion and participates in the upcoming tournament with Xiaolong Yang (Yuichiro Umehara) and Yui Huang (Sumire Uesaka) of the Shanghai Combat Revue, Arthur (Nobunaga Shimazaki) and Lancelot (Manami Numakura) of the London Combat Revue, and Elise (Nana Mizuki) and Margarete (Rie Kugimiya) of the Berlin Combat Revue–while trying to keep their home at the Imperial Theater open. [SUMMARIZED FROM THE WIKI]
The game was developed by a team within Sega's CS Research & Development No. 2 division, which also includes Sonic Team.The basic gameplay was carried over, but extensively reworked and the world built entirely in 3D due to the greater hardware specs of the PlayStation 4. The game's engine was based on Hedgehog Engine 2, a proprietary first-party engine created by Sega for the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The cutscenes were crafted using techniques perfected for Sega's Yakuza series. Alongside the 3D conversion, the team worked to make transitions between different areas and between gameplay and cutscenes as seamless as possible. During production, internal staff who were fans of classic Sakura Wars would often be critical of the current team's work, putting pressure on them to create a product worthy of the series. The game features over 40 minutes of CGI cinematics produced by Sanzigen. All other cutscenes were created in real-time using the game's engine.
While there were a new cast and development team, the series romanticized steampunk setting remained intact. The narrative was described as a "Sakura Wars-esque fantasy".Terada created the basic setting and scenario concept, the scenario draft was written by Jiro Ishii, while the main script was handled by Takaaki Suzuki. Ishii was contacted in 2016 by Sega. Ishii was initially sceptical about his skill to manage the project due to the Sakura Wars franchise's prestige. He accepted as the one who approached him was 428: Shibuya Scramble producer Koichi Nakamura; Ishii recognized that the challenge of Sakura Wars was equivalent to the relationship between 428: Shibuya Scramble and its predecessor Machi. During his work on the scenario, Suzuki offered suggestions to keep the game as historically accurate as possible.
Regular series composer Kohei Tanaka wrote the music. Because of his long association, Tanaka was happy to return and write for a new Sakura Wars game. When conceiving the project, the team decided firmly that the music was something that should not be changed, as it had helped maintain the series' popularity through stage shows and concerts in Japan during its dormancy. The developers aimed to have the largest number of vocal themes of any Sakura Wars game, ranging between 70 and 80. These included ensemble pieces and solo songs. A vocal collection album, containing 14 tracks, is scheduled to be released by Wave Master in Japan on April 29, 2020. [SUMMARIZED FROM THE WIKI]
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